[RWP] buying new audio gear

[Jason Fayre]

Hi everyone,
I just subscribed to this list. I'm wanting to buy some audio gear for
my girlfriend for Christmas. Although I'm very technical, I'm not very
familiar with recording hardware and terminology, so go easy on me.
Here's what I'm looking for:
The recording she's been doing up to now is mostly acoustic guitar,
drums and vocals. No midi yet, but that is a possibility.
I'm leaning towards using Reaper for audio recording and editing as
opposed to something like Sonar. I like the cost and I'm having a hard
time justifying the cost of Sonar and cake talking, especially since
it doesn't work with latest Sonar.
I'm looking at purchasing a control surface. At this point, I'm
looking at the bcf2000. Any thoughts on that?
I'll also need an audio interface. What interface would people
recommend? One person told me to go with something like an Onyx 820i
as the audio interface. I've also heard good things about the m-audio
stuff.
As this setup is for home, I'm looking to save money where I can.
Any help or guidance would be appreciated?
Thanks!